Single PCB fabrication: The DIY Approach
Single PCB fabrication occurs when one side of the board features the circuit while the other side is embedded with the components. Single sided printed circuit boards have only one layer conductor. This is the reason it’s called single PCB, or single-sided PCB.
Mostly used in early printed circuits, single PCBs have a restricted circuit design. Screen-printing is most commonly used procedure for designing and fabricating single PCB. The procedure involves:
- Printing resist on the copper
- Etching the solder mask
- Printing the solder mask
- Finishing the parts profile and plated holes by punching them
Single PCB fabrication can be an extremely complex process. Fortunately, there are some PCB services that can make this process easy for you. However, a great way to fabricate single-sided PCB is doing-it-yourself provided you know the right way to go about it. Although it may not eliminate the need for PCB services, performing PCB fabrication yourself is good way to test your PCB design and engineering skills. Following are the steps involved in single do-it-yourself single PCB fabrication.
Design a single printed circuit board
In order to fabricate single-sided PCB, the first thing you need to do is design a single printed circuit board. As it has an easy to use and intuitive graphical user interface, using a computer aided drafting program to design the single-sided PCB is beneficial. The computer aided drafting or CAD program a PCB design and a schematic design module. This provides you with the names of the traces and pins. Furthermore, based on the schematic design you can quickly route the circuit traces with the help of the auto-router feature of the CAD program.
Print the circuit design
The next step in the PCB fabrication process of single PCB is printing off the circuit design. You can print the circuit design onto the copper clad PCB material by using toner transfer and a laser printer.
Cut the single printed circuit board material to size
The third step in the PCB fabrication process of single PCB is cutting the PCB material to the size of your design with the help of a band saw. In order to remove the firmness of the fiberglass, sand the board edges once you’ve cut the board. Clean the copper clad PCB material after sanding the edges.
Laminate
In order to ensure proper adhesion, laminate the single printed circuit board materials. You can do this with the help of a laminator and a toner transfer paper.
Etch the copper
With the help of an etching solution such as Ferric Chloride, etch the copper plate. Avoid using a metal container. Instead, use of a plastic container.
Drill the printed circuit board and solder the components
Using a mini drill, drill holes throughout the printed circuit board and then solder the components. Put on eye protection and drill without any hurry. Solder capacitors, resistors, DIP parts etc.
Inspect the single printed circuit board
The final step in the process is inspecting the single printed circuit board. Check if there are any problems with the traces by using a magnifying glass or microscope.